INDIANAPOLIS — All the talk about Illinois as it has won six of its past nine games has been about the dramatic change in the team since freshmen Malcolm Hill and Kendrick Nunn were installed as starters. One might say they put the fight back in the Illini.

On Thursday afternoon at the Big Ten Tournament, in a hectic battle of an 8/9 game, those two and just about everyone else wearing blue stood aside as junior point guard Tracy Abrams took command.

Abrams scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, including nearly every essential basket as the Illini (19-13) held off a comeback attempt by the Indiana Hoosiers in a 64-54 victory that advanced Illinois to a quarterfinal game against No. 1 seed Michigan.

Illinois needs to win the championship here and the resulting automatic bid to reach the NCAA Tournament, and the Wolverines smashed the Illini on their own homecourt just last week, but the No. 9 seed has had some time to recover (and two victories in the interim) and plenty of incentive to perform better this time around.

Indiana dropped into a 0-9 hole at the start of this one, evincing little interest in actually playing in the 8/9 game. At least, that was the case until coach Tom Crean called a timeout and did a little convincing that sticking around another day or two might be a worthwhile exercise.

From that point to the end of the half, the Hoosiers outscored the Illini by a 28-21 margin. Senior wing Will Sheehey, rapidly approaching the end of his Big Ten career, hit three times from 3-point range and missed only one of his five attempts in the first half, scoring 11 points that pulled IU to a 30-28 deficit at the half.

At that point, there was no issue with motivation.

The Hoosiers and Illini played a compelling second half, trading significant plays, tight offensive execution and defensive changes designed to keep the other side off guard.

But after a beautiful freeze-dribble move from Indiana star point guard Yogi Ferrell closed the IU deficit to one point at 47-46, Abrams answered with a 3-pointer from the left corner. After the Hoosiers executed beautifully against a 2-3 zone by flashing Sheehey into the middle and hitting a cutting Troy Williams along the baseline for a layup—and after IU missed a chance to take the lead when Noah Vonleh’s shot was blocked in the lane—Abrams hit another 3-pointer to again push the lead back to four.

When Abrams hit the Hoosiers off a late-clock ball screen and drew a foul as he scored a layup, that was pretty much the end of the show.